Last Trip

I told you about a week ago that our last trip was coming. I choked up some as I spoke, but you said nothing. We were together for more than 15 years, but it was time to part ways. You’ve been with me through so much. You helped me move 3 times between 4 different addresses and across multiple states. You saw me through a divorce, caught my tears as I grieved the loss of family and friends, and kept me safe through bad weather and from those around me making poor decisions.

We met in March 2009. I wasn’t sure about you at first, but it didn’t take me long before I fell for you. You came into my life at exactly the right time. We loved to road trip together. You always let me pick the location. You were just happy to be along for the ride. I loved to take you to bookstores or load up the bike and head out to the Root River Trail. You were part of my support staff for my ride up the Paul Bunyan Trail in 2018. You came with me when I interviewed for a teaching position in Austin, Minnesota. I remember listening to the celebration of John Lennon on Iowa Public Radio as we drove back to Springfield on the 30th anniversary of his death. That was a wild trip.

You never once complained about my music or judged me for my inability to sing. You never got bored no matter which podcast or audiobook I played. You let me talk and share my ideas and insights and never interrupted or told me to be quiet. You were never uncomfortable when I just wanted to ride in silence. You never said a word when I put my wet, muddy boots on you or made you carry bags of leaves, buckets of soil, or flats of plants from the nursery. You just let me be and rolled with it.